Daily Current Affairs 2025  

16/09/2025

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CA-16/09/2025

Why in News?
India and Mauritius have recently reinforced their long-standing, multi-faceted partnership with several significant developments during the Mauritius Prime Minister's visit to India in September 2025.

Recent Developments

• India announced a special economic package of USD 680 million for Mauritius, supporting projects in infrastructure, healthcare, education, energy (such as a 17.5 MW floating solar plant), and maritime surveillance.
• The first Jan Aushadhi Kendra outside India was inaugurated in Mauritius, alongside announcements for an AYUSH Centre.
• Development initiatives include India constructing a new Parliament building in Mauritius.
• Agreements were signed covering maritime security, hydrography, joint space activities, youth exchanges, and disaster management.
• India supports Mauritius in safeguarding its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), maritime domain awareness, and response to crises such as oil spills and cyclones.
• New MoUs involve trade in local currencies, building on UPI and RuPay adoption in Mauritius.

Historical and Cultural Ties

• The India-Mauritius relationship dates back to the 18th century, strengthened by shared history and around 68% of the Mauritian population being of Indian origin.
• Diplomatic ties were formally established in 1948, before Mauritius gained independence.
• India has played a vital role in developing educational and cultural institutions like the Mahatma Gandhi Institute and the Indian Cultural Centre in Mauritius.

Strategic and Economic Significance

• Mauritius holds strategic value for India’s maritime security ambitions under the SAGAR/MAHASAGAR doctrines, counterbalancing regional competition (especially Chinese investments in the Western Indian Ocean).
• Maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean is a cornerstone, with India supporting Mauritian capability-building, especially on Agaléga Island.
• Mauritius remains India’s largest source of FDI, contributing roughly 25% of cumulative FDI inflows to India since 2000, while being a key conduit for Indian economic engagement with Africa through the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Challenges

• Mauritius’ dependence on Indian aid brings risks of over-reliance, pushing it to diversify partners.
• Rising Chinese influence including Jenfei smart city and port project and other external involvement poses a long-term strategic challenge for India.
• Bilateral trade faces logistical hurdles, while Indian private sector presence in Mauritius remains limited.

India-Mauritius ties are now foundational to India’s Indian Ocean and African outreach, built on strategic trust, economic development, and strong cultural bonds.
 
   
Why in News?
Rabi Abhiyan 2025 is a two-day National Agriculture Conference held on September 15-16, 2025, in New Delhi at the Pusa Campus, organized by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare with the theme "One Nation – One Agriculture – One Team".

Key highlights

• Formulating an action plan for Rabi crops like wheat, barley, mustard, chickpeas, and lentils.

• Emphasizing climate-resilient and water-efficient practices.
• Expanding crop insurance coverage, especially under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
• Strengthening extension services through joint programs by central and state governments, agricultural universities, and other institutions.
• Combating counterfeit fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides to protect farmers.
• Setting a national foodgrain production target of 362.5 million tonnes for 2025-26, up from 353.96 million tonnes last year.
• Launching the ‘Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’ from October 3, which involves teams of scientists reaching villages to provide guidance under the ‘Lab to Land’ initiative.

The conference and ministerial interactions is a strong push towards modernization, sustainability, and increased productivity in the upcoming Rabi cropping season 2025-26.
 
   
The National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMS) is a central government initiative launched in 2008 aiming to provide financial assistance to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to reduce dropout rates at the secondary stag
 
Key details of the scheme:

• Objective: To arrest dropout rates of bright but economically disadvantaged students at class VIII and motivate them to continue education till class XII.
• Eligibility: Students whose parental income is not more than Rs. 3,50,000 per annum (varies by revised rules) and studying in eligible schools except Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, private, or residential schools.
• Duration: Scholarship awarded for 4 years (class 9 to 12).
• Scholarship Amount: Rs. 12,000 per annum paid monthly or quarterly.
• Selection: Through a State-level examination consisting of two tests—Mental Ability Test (MAT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) conducted at class VIII level.
• Performance criteria: Minimum 55% marks in class VII exam (relaxation for SC/ST) to appear for the test; minimum 40% aggregate in MAT and SAT to pass. Continuance requires maintaining 55%-60% marks in further classes with relaxation for SC/ST.
• Scholarship disbursement is through Direct Benefit Transfer to students' bank accounts.
• Approximately 100,000 scholarships are awarded annually based on state quotas.

The scheme's main objective is to promote education among talented but economically disadvantaged students to decrease dropout rates at the secondary and higher secondary levels and improve educational equity.
 
   
Why in news?
World Ozone Day 2025 was observed globally on September 16 under the theme "From Science to Global Action." This day highlights the critical role of the ozone layer in protecting life on Earth by blocking harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
 
History and Significance

• The Vienna Convention: The journey began with the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1985.
• The Montreal Protocol: Following the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole the Montreal Protocol signed on September 16, 1987 on production and consumption of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
• Universal Ratification: A significant milestone was achieved on September 16, 2009, when the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol became the first treaties in United Nations history to achieve universal ratification.
• The Kigali Amendment: In 2016, the Kigali Amendment was adopted to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). 

This day underscores the success of international cooperation in environmental protection and the continuing need for vigilance to protect the ozone layer for future generations.

   
Why in news?
Astronomers from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), have recently mapped in detail the invisible layers of cosmic dust that form a veiling "dusty veil" over the Milky Way. 
 
What is the Dusting Veil?

• A Cosmic Curtain: The dusting veil is not a solid object but a collection of countless tiny dust grains, primarily composed of silicates, amorphous carbon, graphite, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
• Obscuring Our View: This veil of dust absorbs and scatters the light from distant stars and the bright center of the Milky Way, making them appear dimmer and redder. This phenomenon is known as interstellar extinction and reddening.
• The Great Rift: A prominent feature of this dusty veil is the Great Rift, a dark, seemingly empty band that appears to split the Milky Way in the night sky.

 Distribution and Structure

• Uneven and Wavy: Recent studies, have revealed that the dust is not uniformly distributed. It forms a thin, wavy layer that doesn't perfectly align with the central plane of the galaxy.
• Galactic Plane Concentration: The majority of this dust is concentrated within the galactic plane, the flat, disk-like region where most of the Milky Way's stars, gas, and dust reside.
• Variable Thickness: The thickness and density of the dust layer vary across the galaxy. It is generally denser towards the galactic center.  

Role in Star and Planet Formation

• Stellar Nurseries: Despite obscuring our view, these dust clouds are essential for the formation of new stars. Dense regions within these clouds, known as molecular clouds, are the birthplaces of stars.
• Shielding and Cooling: The dust shields the gas within these clouds from the harsh radiation of nearby stars, allowing it to cool down and collapse under its own gravity, the first step in star formation.
• Building Blocks of Planets: The dust grains themselves are the fundamental building blocks of planets. In the protoplanetary disks surrounding young stars, these grains stick together to form larger and larger bodies, eventually leading to the formation of planets, asteroids, and comets. 

The dusting veil of the Milky Way is a dynamic and vital component of our galaxy. While it hides much of the cosmos from our direct view, it is also the very material from which new stars and planetary systems are born.

 

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